Method of preparing food products of starchy material.



F. G. LORENZEN.

METHOD 0F PREPARING FOOD PRODUCTS 0F STARCHY MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED MAR.301 |918.

Patented Aug. 13, 1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK G. LORENZEN, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, AISSIGNOR T0 KELLOGG TOASTED CORN FLARE COMPANY, OF BATTLE CIELIEIElIK,` MICHIGAN, CORPOR- f :I ION'l UF MICHIGAN.

' METHOD DF PIREPARIN G FOOD PRODUCTS 0F STARCHY MATERIAL.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK G. LOREN- znir, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, U. S. A.,

have invented certain new and useful Im-A provements in Methods of Preparing Food Products of StarchyMaterial, of which the following is a specification.

lln my rior Patent No. 1,211,462, granted to me on anuary 9, 1917, 1 have described a certain cooked and puffed food product composed of globules or pellets ofst'archy material gelatinized by cooking with steam and puffed by' the application pf heat.- The object of my present invention is to improve upon the 'process described in my said prior patent, and to this end I have devised certain modifications and developments of that process whereby greater certainty and uniformity in securing the desired results are attained, and the most perfect product possible is obtained. My invention consists in the various modications and novel steps in the process of making said product which are hereinafter described, and which are more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Of the drawings Figure 1 represents a central vertical section of a crumbling or separating mill suitable for use in practising my invention, and Fig. 2 a central vertical section of a suitable puliing oven for puffing the cooked and dried pellets of material.

The method of preparing the globules Qf raw starch material preparatory to cooking it by steam is the same as that followed in the process of my prior patent. lIt will therefore suflice to say that the new powdered starchy material used asa base is treated with water to form a stiil", friable lmass, which by a suitable iaking mill or other appliance is' reduced to a flaky, granutit) lated mass lwhich is operated upon by a tumbling drum to convert-the granulated material to a mass of polished, free-running globules which are graded .into lots of uniorm sizes.

Describing now the modified process of cooking and puiiing these globules, they are placed in suitable trays in a steam oven where the cooking is begun with dry superheated steam at an initial pressure of from One-half pound to a poundper square inch.

slpecication of Letters Patent. v Patented Aug,` 13, 1918, Application iled March 30, 1918. Serial No. 225,815.

- vent the 'globules from becoming sticky and soggy, and coalescing to the extent that would take place without such treatment. The trays are now removed from the oven and allowed to stand about twenty-four hours at ordinary room temperature to cool and slightly dry the cooked mass.

.After the preliminary cooling and drying, the mass of globules,I divided into pieces of convenient sizefor treatment, is next subjected to the operation of a separating or crumbling mill, such as that illustrated injFig. 1 of the drawings. This mill consists of a hopper 1, within which is rotatably mounted an upperv radially-grooved grinding plate 2 arranged above a xed lower plate 3 having a coperating upper face. rllhe distance between these plates is accurately adjusted so thatby the rotation of the upper plate the globules (which have retained their form and have a rubber-like texture but are slightly adherent) are separated, vbut not crushed or ground up.

The globules are next placed inside a room in which the temperature can be regulated, and the temperature gradually raised to a point ranging from 100 to 11()l degrees Fahrenheit. From three to five days exposure inthisdrying room will be required to properly dry the globules, the time varying according to the temperature employed.

After the final drying has been accomplished the 0"lobules are conveyed directly into the pubngmachine without being al- `-lowed to cool, it having been found that vided with spiral agitating strips 8,- and made in sections varying indimensions of mesh so that `the unpui'ed globules will be sorted out at the lower end of the drum as the product travels toward the outlet 9. By the sharp, dry heat of the puffing oven the globules are puffed during their travel Ithrough the drum, and the finished product is delivered at the outlet 9 of the machine.

I claim: 1.oThe process of forming a puffed food product from vglobules of starchy material such as described which consists in subjecting said globules to the action of dry steam at an initial low /pressure and increasing said pressure during the cooking operation whereby adhesion of globules to each other is diminished, afterward separating and drying said globules, and then subjecting them to a sharp puiied. f

2. A process according to claim 1 in which the init1al pressure is less than two pounds per square inc h and the nal pressure between ten and twenty pounds and the time of cooking is between two and four hours.

3. The .process of forming a puffed food product from globules of starchy material such as' described which consists in subjecting said globules to the action of. dry steam at an initial low pressure and increasing said pressure during the cooking operation wherebyl adhesion of globules to each other is diminished, then initially drying said globules in the mass, then separating them, then subjecting them to gradual drying at a warm temperature, and then subjecting them without cooling to a sharp dry heat wherebythey are pufed.

,4. A process according to claim 3 in whichthe final drying temperature is gradually brought up to a point of from 100 to v110 degrees.

5. The process of forming a puffed food product from globules of starchy material such as described which consists in subjecting said globules to the action of dry steam atan initial low pressure and increasing dry heat whereby they are days tothe action of a dryin .product from globules of starchy material such as described which consists 1n subjectmg said globules to the action of dry steam until they are completely gelatini-zed, then initially drying and then separating the globules to each otherl globules, then subjecting them for several room `at a warm temperature and then subjecting them without cooling to the action of a puing oven.

8; The process of 'forming a puffed food product from globules of starchy material such as described which consists in subjecting said globules to the action of dry steam until they are completely gelatinized, then initially drying and then separating the globules, then subjecting them for several days to the action of a drying room at a temperature gradually brought up to from 100 to 110 degrees, and then subjecting them without cooling tothe action of a pufiing OVGII.

9. The process of forming a puffed food product from globules of starchy material such as described which consists in subjecting said globules to the action of dry steam until they are completely gelatinized, then cooling and slightly drying the mass of cooked globules, then subjecting the mass to the grinding action of a pair of separated crumbling plates whereby the globules are separated, and then drying and puiiing the globules.

. FREDERCK G. LORENZEN. 

